Tonight, South Carolina's same 100% unverifiable touch-screen voting systems that declared the unknown, unemployed, never-once-campaigned-anywhere Alvin Green to have somehow defeated four-term state legislator and circuit court judge Vic Rawl to win the 2010 Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, declared Mark Sanford the winner over Elizabeth Colbert Busch by a 9 point landslide...
The unverified and unverifiable computer-reported results tonight led PPP's Tom Jensen to tweet: "I feel bad about our SC-1 polling, I'd feel worse if there had been any indication from any other polling that Sanford landslide was coming".
Neither Jensen nor PPP should feel bad. There was no more indication that a "landslide was coming", than there is proof tonight that it actually came.
We explained last month, in detail, why the votes cast in this race on SC's oft-failed, easily-manipulated ES&S iVotronic touch-screen voting system would be 100% unverifiable. As Vic Rawl, a Colbert Busch supporter and the man who inexplicably "lost" to Alvin Green told us at the time, no matter what the results would be tonight, no matter how inexplicable they might be, "the fact is, there's not a darn thing that anybody can do about it."
While it's completely possible that PPP's pre-election numbers were entirely wrong, or that the disgraced Sanford legitimately, somehow, achieved an 18 point turnaround in just two weeks, the voters of SC will never know one way or another if he did or didn't. Once again, we have another 100% unverifiable faith-based election in the world's once-greatest democracy.
Now look I am well aware that anybody who questions the outcome of an election seems like a sore loser looking for a conspiracy theory to explain how THEIR candidate lost. And I don't want to be THAT guy.
However many of you know, because we covered it extensively during the last election, that the voting machines are completely unreliable and that in states where the Republican party is in charge Democrats cannot win unless they receive a large majority of the vote.
So did this happen in South Carolina? I don't know for certain, but there was something interesting that happened which first sent up red flags for me and which has made me question Sanford's victory ever since.
You see I had discovered that HuffPo was tracking the incoming results on a page which constantly refreshed every nine seconds, so I had left that page open on my computer in order to check back occasionally and see the progress of the vote tally.
For most of the morning the numbers were about 54% for Colbert Busch and I think about 47% for Sanford.
I got busy about halfway through my day and did not check the results for a two hour span of time. But when I checked again I was shocked to see that the numbers had completely reversed. In other words they were EXACTLY as I had seen them earlier but but they were on opposite sides of my screen.
Now I have reported before that there is software that was developed by the conservatives in charge of programming the voting machines which can flip the votes so long as the difference remains only 10%.
As you can see this election meets that criteria.
So did the South Carlina Republicans decide that as damaged as Sanford was he was still THEIR guy and help him to steal this election? Sadly we will never know.
But do you know what I think?
The real danger and harm is thaat voters and potential voters lose faith in our system. Everyone acknowledges that smaller turnouts favor the GOP candidates. Therefore, we cannot afford, as a nation, to have people think it is a waste of time to vote.
ReplyDeleteWhen I contacted our Election Commisioner (county), he said it would be a good idea if we used machines that could produce a double paper trail (one receipt for the voter and one for the county - which the voter could check before handing it over to the poll officials. However, he said they simply could not afford it.
What we cannot afford is a system that can be easily duped, people losing faith that their votes count, and loss of our national reputationa as a leading democracy.
You'd think conservatives would worry about their votes, but I suspect either they don't think about these things or they instinctly know the fix is in for their favor.
I want my tax dollars spent on reliable systems that uphold the integrity of our votes.
I absolutely agree. I was a receipt. I think candidates should have to pay for the cost of the receipt from some of their fundraising money. Id be willing to pay for the receipt myself, but you cant charge people to vote, I know.
DeleteOur system sucks and it does discourage voting, which is exactly the intention.
+1,000. Our voting and election system needs an overhaul from the ground up. Look at Florida - it's just as though the R's don't WANT an easy, verifiable election process.
DeleteYES - I do think Sanford had a rat in the woodpile to tilt the votes in his direction.
Oh yeah, I think there was cheating with those non-verifiable voting machines.
ReplyDeleteAnd it sucks to be Palin when that "losers" she thought were Tesla have a car this highly rated by Consumer Reports.AND THEN the stock price surges, from the Detroit Free Press:
http://www.freep.com/article/20130509/BUSINESS0104/305090134/Tesla-Motors-electric-vehicles-Elon-Musk-Model-S
She's a MORON.
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. Yeah, it was rigged.
ReplyDeleteOff topic but Minnesota will become the 12th state to legalize gay marriage.
ReplyDeleteThe stupidest thing about U.S. federal elections is that the states are allowed to be in charge of their own voting systems. A Federal Elections Commission, composed of federal civil servants, rather than partisan parties, should set the standards for all federal elections.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you have a family member who's running for office you should NOT be allowed to own a company that has anything to do with election machines...right, Tagg Romney?
DeleteI agree! Very well put, thank you.
DeleteR in NC
Isn't it interesting that Republicans are so determined to make sure that Voter ID laws are as strict as possible but don't give a crap what happens to your vote once you cast it? Yeah, I'd say things are rigged. If they weren't, why are they howling for machines that leave a paper trail?
ReplyDeleteHow is this still possible after all the uproar that America has had about these machines. I'm not American so I do not have a right to criticize your systems but to rest of the world this seems to be very wrong.With the systems you country have in place why is there not a independent umpire to over see the results.
DeleteCherie
Stalin said it best: It's not who votes, it's who counts the votes.
DeletePPP had the best results during the Presidential elections. They do not make this kind of mistake - especially one that showed Sanford had an 18 point lead. Do I think NC cheated? Hell yea!
ReplyDeleteDo you watch Scandal? Voter rigging happened on the show. You know how it was proven? When someone got a hold of one of the machines.
No election results should be unverifiable -- unless there is a reason for that. I smell a rat .. but I can't verify it.
ReplyDeleteThe Republican Remains a Total Joke With The Election of Mark Sanford
ReplyDelete"It is important to get one thing straight; Colbert-Busch never had a snowball’s chance in Hell of winning a congressional seat representing South Carolina, and it is not because she was unqualified, but because her opponent represented everything the 93% Christian population holds near and dear to their hearts. It is true that a strong intelligent woman who also is a Democrat is toxic to the Christian community, but it was more that her opponent epitomized what Christians love most; a sinner who lost his way, came groveling back full of repentance, and found redemption in the lord and therefore the people."
More here:
http://www.politicususa.com/republican-remains-total-joke-election-mark-sanford.html
Too bad this election wasn't big enough for Anonymous to get involved in and protect the electronic vote manipulation.
ReplyDeleteIt was a dress rehearsal.......
ReplyDeleteOne more nail pounded into in the dying soul of American Democracy. I am --"this close" -- to turning my back on ever reading anything again about the Third World Country that think's it's Exceptional.
ReplyDeleteIf there is no way to have an inquiry about this, what chance does your country have -- if I lived there, I would leave.
It makes me sick at heart.
I have better things to do than keep watching the shitty morals of half the people in your so-called Christian country, day after day, shit on the Right Thing to Do.
Get your act together, good guys. The clock is ticking.
I sign every petition I can, send money, but am losing heart.
Well put.....my misgivings are validated every single day......
DeleteI think the fact this election was rigged is as sure as today is Friday. The GOP had no problem stealing 2 presidential elections...this would be a no brainer. Those machines should be outlawed...and I agree there should be a FEDERAL mandate where all the voting machines are the same, period. There also needs to be a backup system where they can be confirmed, our so called democracy has become a joke.
ReplyDeleteWe allowed the Bush traitors & murderers to go free, Wall Street thieves & liars got billions, the banks stole millions of homes, and look at Congress....fighting gay marriage, gun control and immigration. This is the democracy that millions have died for?
Another republiscum steals an election with rigged voting machines. I'm not surprised at all. It's the ONLY way they can win.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there should be ID required to cast a ballot and there should be a hard copy of all votes cast with electronic voting machines. Our system of Government is dependent on the reliability and trustworthiness of election results.
ReplyDelete